


Unchanged

by WorryinglyInnocent



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A Monthly Rumbelling, AU, F/M, Vampires, blood cw, vampire cw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21584383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WorryinglyInnocent/pseuds/WorryinglyInnocent
Summary: Three hundred years after he was first turned, vampire Gold meets up with an old -very old- friend. The times have changed, but she never does…Written for the @a-monthly-rumbelling moodboard prompt, availablehere.
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Comments: 8
Kudos: 39





	Unchanged

Although it was fifty years since he last saw her, he would recognise her anywhere. She’d had different hair colours, different styles, and of course, her mode of dress changed with the seasons to allow her to blend in perfectly with her hunting ground. She was never the same woman twice, and yet, Gold could always know her in a crowd.

They knew their own, of course. Like always called to like, something about their difference being a beacon to their own kind, almost like a light shining out stating that they were a kindred spirit, and guard could be lowered a little around them. Not lowered entirely, after all, they were predatory creatures, territorial. But there was no need to hide their true nature around their own kind, and the ability to talk about their true lifestyles once in a while was very freeing. 

Even without that natural attraction to other nightwalkers, Gold would still know Belle anywhere. He’d heard it theorised that they would always recognise and be drawn to their sires, but he’d never known the connection be as strong as his to Belle in any other of their kind. 

He stopped inside the doorway of the bar, watching her for a moment. She was playing the barfly tonight: hair in a messy bun, backless shirt showing bra straps and mini-skirt showing miles of sweet, creamy thigh. The expensive cocktail on the bar in front of her was naturally undrunk, no doubt bought for her by the enamoured young man who was obviously falling under her spell. What a shock he would get when he learned the true meaning of having a drink with Belle. 

She seemed to sense his presence then, turning to the doorway and giving him the sultry smile that he had first seen three hundred years ago, the smile that had led to his doom. Although, he was used to it now. He didn’t consider it doom quite as much. Not if he had Belle as a constant in his unchanging immortality. 

They didn’t see each other regularly. Sires never did take much care of their charges after turning them and teaching them the basics of vampirism. It was not a desire for companionship that drove them to turn, more a need to keep their population alive, unable to reproduce by far more pleasurable human methods. As long as there was a steady supply of humans being turned, then they would cancel out those of their kind that they lost to sunlight, or hunters, or other regrettable accidents. 

Belle summoned him over with an imperious nod of her head, the young paramour instantly forgotten as she laid eyes on him, and she turned her head to present her cheek for a kiss. It was always the way that he had greeted her, even back when he had been a human falling under her spell as thoroughly as the man at the bar. 

“Why is it that we always meet in drinking establishments?” he asked. 

Belle shrugged. “I find them to be easy hunting grounds. The haze of alcohol makes everything seem so much better, makes everyone seem so much more beautiful whilst they don’t realise just how vulnerable they are.”

She flashed him the barest glimpse of her fangs, primed and ready for the kill. Oh, she was certainly on the hunt tonight, and there was something bright in her eyes that Gold recognised from many encounters gone by. She was not just hungry for blood. 

Gold felt a familiar stirring in his own loins. It was a long time since he’d taken pleasure in another’s cold skin. Humans were all right for such things, but they were always too warm for him, and they always smelled so delicious that he was inclined to get distracted. With Belle, he knew that he was guaranteed a wonderful experience that he could make last for as long as they desired - and oh, they had made it last in the past. 

“Besides, I miss the taste of alcohol.” She twirled the stem of her cocktail glass between her fingers despondently. “Sometimes the only way to get a decent drink is second-hand. I don’t miss much, but I do miss that wonderful burn.”

Gold did not know how long Belle had been a vampire. He’d always accepted that she’d been there at the beginning of time and would be there long after the rest of them had given up the ghost. She had never talked about her origins with him, chastising that it was rude to ask a lady her age. 

He was sure she had been a high-born lady at some point, although whether that was her true life or just one of the many aliases she had formed for herself over the course of her immortality was another thing entirely. 

Speaking of…

“And what should I call you tonight, my dear? You seem to change identity as often as you change your knickers.”

“Ah, now there you would be mistaken, for as you know, I long since gave up wearing them.” She ran her tongue over her lips, inviting him to kiss her, but not here, not now. There was a hunt to be chased first. “For tonight, let’s call me Lacey.”

Lacey. The name suited her. There had never been a name that didn’t suit her, although he would always come back to Belle. It was the name she had worn when she had turned him, and he would always remember it as the name of his sire. Whether or not it was her real name, the one she had been born with all those centuries ago, mattered little. To him, she was Belle, and always would be. 

“How’ve you been keeping, my darling?” she purred. “It’s been a long time since we met, but sometimes the years pass in the blink of an eye. It always makes me happy to see you.”

She didn’t say that she would like to see him more often. Neither of them needed that closeness. It was in their nature to be solitary creatures, lone wolves, so to speak. Ironic since the wolves themselves would always pack together. Every few decades was enough for them to reacquaint themselves. After all, they had long memories, and long lives. Too much time spent in one place with one person would quickly become a bore. Time meant different things to vampires and humans. It lost its regular meaning, and yet gained so much more. 

“Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Same life, different places.”

She laughed. “Have you been exploring, my dear? My, my. You were always a homebody, I never thought that you’d be one to see the world.”

“I find it doesn’t do to get too familiar with any part of the world. That way, people start to get familiar with you.” Gold shrugged.

“I see. And are you averse to such… familiarity?” 

Her hand was creeping along his thigh, her expression one of completely false innocence. 

“There are some forms of familiarity that are… permissible.”

Belle squeezed his thigh. “I’m very glad to hear it. Perhaps later tonight we can renew our familiarity.”

“I’d be perfectly amenable to that.”

On the other side of Belle, the young man she’d previously been indulging with her presence seemed to have given up the ghost, accepting that the woman who had seemed so interested in him before had no designs on him whatsoever. As he left the bar, Belle smiled wickedly. 

“How much of a head start should we give him, do you think?”

“Well, there are two of us,” Gold pointed out, pretending to give the matter some serious thought. “We do have the advantage. It would probably be sporting to give him ten minutes, at least.”

“Ah, but we really don’t want to lose him.” Belle tutted. “He was going to be such a nice meal, as well. Nicely ripened. I’m not sure that I could forgive you if he were to slip out of our clutches, you know.”

“Well, I suppose that we could always follow him at a leisurely pace.” Gold got up from the bar and held out his arm; Belle took it and hopped off her stool, leading him out of the building. The chill in the air felt wonderful after the stuffy inside space, and Gold turned his face up towards the full moon, basking in its glow.

“Careful there, my dear. People will be mistaking you for a werewolf.”

“We can’t have that, certainly.”

They continued to walk down the streets arm in arm, occasionally catching the scent of the human they’d pegged for their prey this evening. There was no rush, he wasn’t running from them. 

Yet. 

Belle smiled as they came upon him, and she let go of Gold, sidling up towards the poor, unsuspecting human. 

“Hey sugar,” she drawled. “I’ve been looking all over for you. You left without saying goodbye, you know. Naughty.” She pouted, bopping him on the nose with one fingertip as she slipped her arms around his neck. The human looked extremely confused, especially when he glanced over to where Gold was standing, completely nonchalant and watching the whole thing. 

“You know, we never got to the best part,” Belle purred, and then her eyes were brightening and her fangs were sliding down, and the man was running away with a scream of terror. 

Belle sighed. “I do so hate it when they run. These heels were not made for pursuit.”

Gold just chuckled as she kicked off the shoes and began to jog along beside him. “Don’t you find something wonderful in the thrill of the chase, though?”

“Well, it does make the reward so much sweeter in the end.” She turned, giving him a wicked grin. “I’ll see you at the finish line, then, Gold. Don’t worry. I’ll save enough for you.”

She ducked into a side street, and Gold took the opposite route, a move that they had done so many times before when hunting through the big cities together.

It was good to know that Belle never changed.


End file.
